Warmth of the Sun
by conjure-at-your-own-risk
Summary: Reboot! The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.
1. Come Morning Light

**AN: Guys, I was 16 when I wrote the original in 2012. I'm nearing 19 now and I want this to be a project and done hopefully before I get a degree. All other WIP projects (Gusts Come Around and And Start Again) are still in-progress. **

**I'm formerly known as Tzadikim and this is the reboot featuring: improved grammar and punctuation, consistency in writing, POC Potters and Grangers, different POVs, a linear plot, and hopefully a step up in my writing skills. This has been brought to you by a decision that was made months ago when sleep deprived. New to this? Don't worry! Their names are the same as their canon ones.**

**Why pick a Rule 63 AU? Because the double-standards regarding gender in this fandom is annoying as hell. I also like canon ships. You can read ahead on my AO3 account, and the link is there on my profile.**

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Come Morning Light

**Word Count**: 973

**Summary: **Reboot!The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>Halley felt something stir against her.<p>

Through the hazy labyrinth of sleep she tried to direct her way out, heavy limbs struggled to move, and stiff muscles protested. One of her hands became tangled in something soft, opening an eye; she was momentarily surprised to see a striking shade of red near her head. He was facing away from her and haphazardly taking up a side of the bed. The other part of his pillow was streaked with dirt and some blood.

Halley then opened both eyes. _Am I dreaming?_ she thought, half-expecting to wake up in the cold tent in a dark forest. Except she was greeted with the familiar red velvet curtains of her bed at Hogwarts. A bed that was also occupied by someone else. Now would be the part of the dream that she would wake up from. She would be back in the tent with tensions high, and not at Hogwarts with her ex-boyfriend being so close.

Except, Halley looked at her shabby robes that were stained and bloodied and torn; and then at his sleeping form in which he was snoring. Her dreams usually involved him awake. She tried to push herself up in a sitting position, but a dull pain in her chest forced her back down. That acted as a wake up call, making her feel aware of her injuries that she'd sustained throughout the year. From her sore leg muscles to the burns from the break-in, Halley could only grimace as she got reacquainted with her very much alive body.

(In the back of her mind, the solid dirt ground of the forest stayed as she felt death surround her and ready to greet her as an old friend.)

The room felt colder and Halley had to curl her hands hard enough to almost draw blood from her palms. _Alive,_ she reminded herself. She pictured Hogwarts untouched by war, the Burrow filled with happy people, and more scenes from her life that brought her life that were filled with her friends. _You're alive, Potter. It better stay like that for a while_. Halley painfully remembered the rest: the chaos of the final part of the battle, gloating almost recklessly to Riddle about what had gone wrong for him, and crying. She remembered sobbing after everything once the event had settled in her mind.

The faces of the dead were painted on the inside of her eyelids, but Halley wanted to keep her eyes open for now. She needed the dead to stay away.

She pushed her tangled and dirty hair back, wishing greatly for a shower and— when running her tongue over her teeth—a toothbrush. Yes, getting patched up should be the first of her priorities. Although...

Careful not to wake him, Halley reached to turn Gid on his back. His head flopped to one side and his snoring subsided. She had to look closely at his face because she couldn't find her glasses. He appeared unharmed except for a half-healed gash on his cheek. There were specks of dried blood intermingling with his numerous freckles, but Halley couldn't see anymore wounds. Reassured that at least one of them was physically okay, she felt better with the idea of leaving the bed.

Halley pushed the curtains away to find her glasses neatly folded and her wand on the bedside table. She tapped her wand (feeling the jolt that it was _her_ wand and not someone else's) on the glasses to make the grime vanish and put them on.

"Hey," he whispered. "What are you doing up?"

Slowly, Halley turned around and saw that Gid was awake. He was on his side; the sheets kicked to the bottom of the bed and the heavy duvet half off.

"Shower," she said, tasting the bad breath and blood in her mouth.

There was something very strange about imagining an event so many times and then to actually experience it. She would imagine their reunion very differently than the one that had happened last night with her pleading him to stay and the sobbing. In her imagination, they would both be awake and elated and everything would be better. Instead Halley felt tired and unsure with the large expanse of time that was now ahead of her.

"Are you in pain?" he asked.

Halley opened her mouth to automatically say no, but she shook her head side by side. It wasn't much, but she certainly felt the abrasions from the fight.

Gid stood on his knees and searched the pockets in his robe to find a glass vial that was slightly cracked on one facet. "Dittany," he explained. "Always good to have some around. The Carrows…" The rest was left unsaid.

She held her hands out and he applied the purple potion on her bloodied knuckles and small cuts that grazed her palms. His hands were different now, she noticed. They were the same fingers with the wide knuckles with the freckles, but there were scars with his callouses.

"And you? Do you need anything?" Halley asked when he finished. She flexed her fingers, feeling a cramp in her right hand.

"I went to Pomfrey before I checked on you," Gid said. He brushed his shaggy hair out of his eyes and he was staring at her. "That can't be everything, yeah?" His voice was softer.

Halley felt the bruise on her chest. "Nothing too serious." She got out of bed and Conjured a towel with her wand. The magic felt as warm and familiar as it did before. "Right. Shower."

"Mhm." He rearranged himself on the bed and was watching her. "Hey, Halley?"

"Yeah?" She wasn't even halfway to the door.

"Hi," Gid said. His Adam's apple bobbed and he raised his hand in a small wave. "I never did got to greet you, now did I?"


	2. Not Alone at All

**AN: Not so surprised by the lack of…everything. Ah, well. Thanks to those that are brave enough to read this. With that being said, this is a rewrite of an older chapter because I actually don't mind the dialogue that much.**

**The Doctor Who reference is from the episode Rose, and the title is from Comes and Goes (in Waves) by Greg Laswell.**

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Not Alone at All

**Word Count**: 1204

**Summary: **Reboot!The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>There was stillness during the first month since the war ended. It was as if the world was having a hard time realising that the bloodshed was over, that people could be free again. The weather had gotten lighter since then, a proverbial winter ending and a time of summer beginning. A time of change.<p>

There was a creek that passed through the Burrow's property. It was a small thing, very narrow and clustered with rocks on the beds, but it was deep enough to give even a full-grown wizard a feeling of displacement. All the Weasley children were taught how to swim in the creek. It was filled with memories of children jumping, splashing, and of young laughter. In the winter it would ice over and be perfect for some small-time ice-skating. Then the ice would break off when spring came and gently warmed up in the sunshine. The happy coming of summer made the water gurgle and slosh around a small mound of earth; an old tree swayed nearby, and a frayed strand of rope followed its movements.

Gid knelt by the water and checked to see if the temperature was warm enough. "It's fine," he told Halley. He stood up and turned around to properly speak to her. "Do you have any more excuses?"

It was for the past week or so that she had been making up excuses to not wanting to swim. None of them were very good, and most were very thin. It had taken some effort on his part, but she'd agreed on the condition that after the lesson he would practice duelling with her.

"Wait, I have one more," she said with a small smile.

Gid crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Really?"

"Crocodiles. Or alligators. I keep forgetting which is more dangerous."

"Why," Gid asked for no particular reason, "would there be a crocodile in a small creek?"

"Baby crocodiles."

"Halley, that's…" He struggled for the right words. "That's the saddest one I've heard from you. I'm almost ashamed."

Halley fought to keep a dry smile off her face. "Then maybe we should abandon this lesson for some other time?"

Gid pretended to think about it. "Nope. Too bad. I'm going to teach you how to swim."

"That's not fair."

"Oh, please." He held out his hand. "Are you, an incredibly foolish Gryffindor, that scared of the some water?"

The (in)famous Gryffindor courage felt bruised from that comment. Halley dropped her glasses to the ground, stomped pass him, and into the creek. She stood near the banks so that the slightly chilled water only came up to her knees. The large shirt she wore billowed, and the edges grew darker with the water. "See? I'm in the water. Happy?" She scowled as she faced him, unable to read his expression without her glasses.

Her answer was a loud splash. She screamed and threw her hands up; the water collectively grew into a small wave and drenched her. Gid's red hair popped up for breath, and he doggy-paddled to her. He stumbled as he stood up on the weak settlement. "You need to be in the water, git. Not waddling."

Halley opened her mouth to speak, but was momentary speechless. The monster in her chest stirred; interested in seeing him stand so close to her. It was a pleasing sight to see him wet, shirtless, and with the sun falling around him. Even if he did looked more like a blob without her glasses, she was content to keep looking. The last time she'd seen him without a shirt was the summer before Sixth Year, and he'd been trying to cajole her into swimming back then, too. Now it was two years later and it wasn't just height that had changed...

"Halley? Earth to Potter?" Gid snapped his fingers in front of her face. "You can stop ogling now."

Halley shook herself out of her stupor. "I was not," she declared firmly, "ogling at you. I was wondering what happened to your shirt."

He pointed to the riverbed where Halley squinted to see a lumpy shape of cotton laid discarded.

There was a brief moment of awkward silence.

"To be swimming," said Gid. "You have to be in your swimming costume."

Halley looked at her shirt that covered said costume. "I think I'm fine like this."

"Halley."

"No. I'm quite fine." She wrapped her arms around her, slightly shivering.

"Hey, I'm willing to walk around without my shirt for this." He held his arms apart, and a Weasley-red blush started to crawl up his face. "All in front of you, might I add. And I get it, you don't like your scars, but no one likes having them, either."

"We all came out as a mess, didn't we?" Halley asked a moment later. Her arms dropped to her sides.

"Life's a mess, you're a mess I'm a mess, everything's a mess," Gid said. "I think that's how life is after a war, everyone is lost and confused and we don't know what to do next except to hold onto the nearest person and hope for the best."

"I was hoping for something more optimistic."

"And I was hoping that something blunt would enter that thick head of yours quicker."

"That's usually the case." Halley looked down the path of the river, watching it twist and turn in the side of the mountain. She thought back to her dreams and nightmares. The monster in her chest receded as the gloomier feelings came back. "How long do you think it will take to become less of a mess? Because every time I get dressed or look in a mirror, I see the scars and I remember, and it doesn't go away, at least not for me. My world has been ripped from under my feet but everything feels still." She made little splashes in the water as she moved. "I should feel different, except all I feel is—"

"Exhausted?" Gid guessed. Halley nodded and her shoulders slumped from letting the weight off of her shoulders. "You know, for the whole life's a mess, word ripping under your feet change, I think there could be worst than feeling exhausted."

"I know." Halley closed her eyes and willed herself not to think of those darker moments. She shrugged once more and moved to sit down on the riverbank with her head in her hands. She felt terribly exhausted again. "I just want my life to make sense for once."

He sat down next to her, his feet floating in the water. "For what it's worth, I think you've been handling it well."

"No, I'm not," she mumbled. "You said it, we're all bloody messes. I'm the messiest mess there is."

"Now that last part I didn't say," Gid frowned. "Honest, you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. You have to at least believe that. Can I?" He held his arm out that she allowed to hug her. He tugged her closer and she rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"I'm tired of being strong," she said.

"Then hold onto me," he said. "I think we can get through this together."


	3. Chocolate

**AN: I love having pre-written chapters. Thank you so much to everyone that is reading and is adding this to their alerts and favorites. Special thanks to MyHeartShipsZouis for leaving the first review! **

**Don't worry, the next chapter is longer than this one. **

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Chocolate

**Word Count**: 992

**Summary: **Reboot!The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better .

* * *

><p>Halley's body jerked as she woke.<p>

Opening her eyes, she half expected to see yellow painted walls and not the blue ones of Beatrice's old room. The rooming arrangement hadn't changed when everyone had returned to the Burrow. They were more or less sleeping in their old rooms, but Halley had chose to sleep in one of the older bedrooms, claiming that it would be better if there was no one near to wake up with her nightmares.

Except it wasn't a grisly nightmare. A part of her mind went back to the dream, almost imagining what it would be like if her birthday had gone differently…but dreams like those were rare and welcoming throughout those months of hiding and fighting.

_Chocolate,_ she thought, kicking her sheets away_. I need chocolate._

Slipping on her robe, Halley crept down the several creaky flights of stairs, and went to go make her a cup of much needed hot chocolate. The past few years of having her summers at the Burrow meant that she could now move along the house very well in the dark. Even without her glasses.

The kitchen was dark and looked very different without the delicious food being cooked, or Mrs Weasley busying herself with the pots and pans. Weak moonlight entered through the windows, giving the room an almost ghostly appearance by washing the colours out.

And when holding the mug filled with hot milk was when Halley bumped into someone from behind.

Surviving a war only had so many consequences—and constant vigilance was the least of it. Everyone in the Burrow had a healthy sense of paranoia now; even more someone would leave the safety of the wards. Halley had tried going to Diagon Alley only a week ago, but had found the bustling amount of people and activities almost too much. She had to retreat to the shop to collect herself before returning to the Burrow.

And just like that, Halley dropped the mug and drew her wand only to find herself also at wandpoint.

"Shit," Gid said. "Shit, shit, shit."

"Ow!" Halley hissed. She dropped her wand and clutched her bleeding foot. Her mug had to fall and shatter like that. "What was that for?"

"I didn't see you," he said. He waved his wand and the puddle of hot chocolate and shards of ceramic vanished. "I'm so sorry—here, let me." Gid helped her to the kitchen counter. "Nightmare again?"

Halley sat on the counter and she tensed as Gid touched the large cut on her foot. "Not really," she muttered. "And you?"

Gid raised his head and she had a hard time reading his expression without her glasses. "Some," he said. He pointed his wand at the cut and painfully red skin and spoke a soft charm. Halley muttered some curses as the healing process began. "I'm still not good at this," he warned her belatedly.

"I've noticed." Halley flexed her foot, admiring her new scar. "But I've had worse."

Gid rose to his feet and she felt very aware that she was wearing an old robe and a vest that she had bought several years ago. "It was a nice dream?" The exhaustion on his face changed to something more wistful. Halley wondered how bad his dreams were.

She thought back to the dream and vividly recalled the memories of her birthday mingling with imagination. It was a 'what if' if Rory had not interrupted and they were allowed to have one moment before more war was spilled into their lives. "It was," she said.

A corner of Gid's mouth tilted upwards. "That's it? You want to keep those dreams of playing Pro Quidditch all to yourself?"

"It wasn't that," said Halley. She tucked one leg under the other. Determined to change the topic, she asked: "I take it that yours wasn't about being in the box seats for a Harpies match?"

"Can we just talk about Quidditch? It's nicer conversational material than horrifying nightmares."

"You would be doing the same to me," Halley. She took in his appearance and saw the heavy shadows under his eyes and the tired lines on his face. She clearly wasn't the only one that was having trouble sleeping. "Come on, if it was me having the nightmare then you would be making me open up over some hot chocolate." She unfolded one leg and nudged his knee with her toes. "What do you say?"

"That offer makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside." Gid sat down in a chair and watched as she got the bottle of milk and chocolate out. "You seriously didn't dream about Quidditch?"

Halley snorted. She waved her wand over the pan and the milk began to boil and release steam. "Keep that up and you'll never find out." Hopefully, that will be the case, she thought. The heavy bar of chocolate melted in the milk, and the rich scent reached her nose, calming her senses. Soon she conjured two mugs and poured the hot drink in them. "Sorry for having you at wandpoint." Halley Levitated the mugs to the table and took the seat next to him.

Gid shrugged and cradled the mug in his large hands. "At least you didn't jinx me. I would have jinxed you back." There was a small pause. "How's your eyesight without those specs?"

"You look like one of those weird paintings with bright colours but no details. Other than that it's fantastic." Halley squinted to see his face. She could make out the shape of his features, his freckles, even the shadows under his eyes, but that was when she noticed how close to his face she was.

"Is this when the staring contest starts?" Gid met her gaze. His eyes were dark and unblinking, but his ears were turning pink.

"You're distracting me," Halley murmured. "Stop it."


	4. Show Me the Best in Me

**AN: Dear Guest User, your passive-aggressiveness regarding several of my fanfictions is starting to wear thin on me. Yes, I have further plans, but I also have WIPs that I want to finish. If you're so interested, then I have some recommendations by other writers, or maybe you can even try writing it. **

**If you're curious about any non-straight romances by me, then try looking at: And We'll be Chasing Stars (has two AUs with Harry/Ginny), Walking on Sunshine (Nico di Angelo/Will Solace), The Early Bird Catches the Zombie Worm (Nico di Angelo/Will Solace), or even some of my original writing that purposely has a gender-ambiguous narrator. **

**This is a rewrite of a previous chapter with something extra, and it has a part two for the next update. **

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Show Me the Best in Me

**Word Count**: 1516

**Summary: **Reboot!The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>Gid couldn't place the right words to describe how he felt that month after the war ended. It was a mixture of many emotions that mostly left him numb and confused. But most of all were the questions that he had: Like how did Halley actually survive the Killing Curse? What made Riddle to hard to kill? And what the hell happened to those three that year? He wanted to bombard them all with questions, but there never seemed a good moment. He would have to be patient, and he could live with that for a little longer.<p>

After all, there were nicer things to think about. One was how Halley was curled up in the hammock with him. It was becoming a regular occurrence for the both of them. It was usually the same position: With Gid sprawled out, and Halley resting soundly on top of him. It was very innocent, and even peaceful with the hammock swinging. It was an easy way to drift off into nonsensical thoughts and to just lay there.

Gid was more than half-asleep when Halley woke him. She tentatively stopped the swinging and pushed herself up, accidentally digging her knee in his side. Whispering an apology, she moved herself so that her head was under his chin, and their knees touching. Halley was facing him, her eyes were half-closed and he didn't mind much that her glasses were digging into his chest. Gid welcomed the extra warmth and weight, the feel of her skin and scent of her hair sent him spiralling into more dreams.

"Gid?" she murmured. "What are you thinking?"

He peeled himself away from more thoughts. "How nice this is, you, nothing much. You?" He breathed in the scent of her hair. Irises, her hair smelled like the kind that his great aunt Muriel would grow on her trellises. The same scent in Amortentia he'd found out during a detention with Slughorn.

"That my birthday is coming up, and I don't know how I feel about that," Halley said.

"What?" Gid said. He struggled to remember what the date was and how many days were left. "Um. It's better than the alternative, right?"

She spoke suddenly in a hoarse voice. "I sometimes forget how young we really are. I wish at times that we could…start it all over. Maybe I could have done something different."

Gid opened an eye, and then both. He wiggled into an upright position, leaving both pairs of feet dangling off the hammock. So much for the nice dreams. "You did what you could. Halley, you're only human. We all knew what we were getting into."

Halley made a face. "I hate that phrase."

"Doesn't make it any less true." He pictured Felicity clearly, how there was a ghost of a laugh on her face and nothing else. _No one blames you_, he added as a thought.

"And it doesn't mean that I have to like it." She opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped.

"What?" Gid asked. He started to feel some prickling annoyance at her stubbornness. Why couldn't she say what was on her mind? She was going to drive him insane one day all because she decided to be a thick prat that kept her emotions and reasons locked up. He knew from experience how badly that would go.

Halley looked sheepish as she ran a hand through her hair. It was longer than what anyone was used to due to her adventures from last year. "Do…do you want me to explain everything?"

"No more secrets," Gid said evenly. "I just want the truth. The whole truth."

Halley tucked her knees under her chin and wrapped herself into a tight ball. "I guess it all started with a love potion, a scared girl, and a frightening series of events…"

And she told him.

He listened with almost a morbid fascination about Merope's unrequited feelings and how she'd bewitched the soon-to-be father of her child. The connection to Salazar Slytherin, what became of Tom Riddle in the orphanage, and she told of what he'd feared the most.

"…and that's how he stopped himself from dying—"

"Stop!" Gid almost shouted. He pushed himself away, feeling his heart hammering wildly in his chest. He could remember what it was like to slowly blackout, as if he was going asleep, and then to have that _awareness_ that something was horribly wrong. Waking up afterwards and feeling sick and lost, wondering why he was covered in red paint or feathers. And then there was the Chamber—the source of his nightmares.

Even now, Gid could recall Riddle's laughter in the darkness…

"I—I used the Diary, _he_ was possessing me—_his_ soul—"

"I know what you're thinking." Halley held his hand and gave his fingers a tight squeeze. "Trust me on this, we're not him. We aren't going to end up like him."

_We_. Gid repeated the word. He could make the connection and now it really felt like he was going to be sick. "You had to die."

Halley's shoulders sagged and she appeared ages older. "Neither can live while the other survives." She took her glasses off and wiped the lenses clean with the hem of her shirt. "Trying to kill me the first time obviously didn't work so well, and Riddle had such faith in the prophecy."

Of course there was a prophecy.

"That's…" Gid struggled to find the right word. Sick? Mad? Words weren't strong enough to label the twistedness that drove Voldemort to raise a wand on a baby; what made him separate his soul more than once and allowing them to fester and infect their hosts. "How?"

Halley closed the gap between them and she gently cupped his face. "Gideon, look at me."

He did. He saw her dusky skin that was gaining colour again, her messy black that was starting to curl in the humidity, and those striking green eyes staring at him behind her round glasses. There was nothing of Tom Riddle in her sun-warmed touch or in her determined expression. She was purely and wholly Halley Lily Potter in his eyes.

"I know that there's nothing left of Riddle in you, can I tell you how?"

Gid nodded.

"Because you can love," Halley said. "That's the power that the Dark Lord knows not."

…_Gid was walking in the empty halls of Hogwarts late at night. The torches were dimmed, leaving the shadows heavier and darker and the suits of armor looking especially menacing in that time of night._

_Halley was walking ahead of him. Like he, she was also dressed in her school robes. Her cloak made soft swishes as she was slowly being swallowed up by the shadows._

_He called out for her but she never responded. Running to catch up, Gid caught his reflection in the polished breastplate of one of the knights. Even distorted and warped, he could tell that wasn't his face. It was all wrong. The features were aristocratic and thin, the chin too narrow, and wavy dark hair was combed back to show more pale, freckle-less skin._

_But the eyes._

_They were red._

"_I'm sorry." Gid turned around and there was Halley pointing her wand at him. Her face was blank, void of any expression and her voice carried as much. "But I have to," she said. The lightning bolt scar on her head was blood-red and angry. "Neither can live while the other survives."_

"_I'm not him," Gid insisted. Nameless horror filled him as spoke in Riddle's smooth voice. "Halley, it's me—I'm not Riddle!" But there was a wand in his hand that wasn't made from rowan. _

_She raised her wand. "Avada—"_

Gid threw his sheets off and ran to the bathroom, emptying the contents of his stomach.

Their earlier conversation swirled inside his head. Hallows and Horcruxes, souls and sacrifices, but thoughts about the diary were what stayed. _My souls for yours_, he remembered. That was what Tom Riddle had wanted—a powerful soul to bring the bastard back to life as Gid was being fed the ruined one.

Cautiously, Gid looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. It was his own face. The large brown eyes and freckles on every inch of skin, it was his flaming red hair that needed a trim. There was nothing physical of Tom Riddle in face.

Eventually reassured that he wasn't going to turn into the Dark Lord in his sleep, he slowly made his way back to his room for another restless night. He passed Halley's room on the way up. Her door was ajar.

Maybe? Should he?

Gid lightly knocked, pushing the door open a little more. "Halley?"

She was awake and sitting up already. Her hair was a mess and she had her wand in hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said. "Can I…can I stay here?"

No more words were needed.

Halley moved over to one side to give him room, and he slipped into bed with her. Gid closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.


	5. Dreams vs Reality

**AN: Thanks to everyone that's been reading!**

**Short, yes. I think the fluff will make up for it. Next one has Ron and Hermione in it. **

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Dreams vs Reality

**Word Count**: 771

**Summary: **Reboot!The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>…<em>and he was kissing her like he had never done before. Gid felt her fingers in his hair, and her other hand being pressed into his back as if to bring him closer. It was easy to get lost in the feeling that felt more intense than those happy hours by the lake. <em>

_Halley murmured his name against his lips._

"_What?" Gid moved his mouth to her neck, wanting to hear her make those breathy sounds again. He encircled her small waist, his fingers just grazing the soft skin that was under her shirt._

"_Door," she croaked. She retrieved his wand from the back pocket of his jeans and cast the spells on the door to lock it shut. "There, now no one—Merlin, that feels good."_

"_Good." He traced the mark on her neck with his fingertips. "Let's make the most of this, yeah?"_

_Halley's lips were on him again, her hands balled in his shirt to bring him down closer…_

"Gid!"

His bed was so comfy…the sheets were soft and they smelled nice, and everything was so warm and cozy… He sighed happily in his dream, imagining the feel of her skin and lips touching him…

"_Hi," Gid breathed. He was on his back and she straddling his waist._

_Halley undid another button on her shirt. "That's all?" she laughed, her cheeks flushed._

"_Sorry." He leaned on the back of his arms and stared up at her. "Your rapturous beauty leaves me without words."_

"_You're barmy, maybe in need of glasses." Her shirt was on the floor with his clothing. Her bra was a red that went well with her dark skin and he wondered briefly what colour her knickers were. Halley leaned down to kiss him. The action was slower but just as passion-filled. Gid's fingers felt thick and clumsy as he tried to undo the clasp…_

"Gid!" the voice repeated; someone was shaking his shoulder. "Gideon, wake up!"

"Wha-_a-a—"_ he slurred. He blearily opened his eyes and saw large green eyes staring at him. Disorientated and still in the throes of sleep, Gid struggled for a moment to separate dream from reality. In his dream, he was happily giving Halley the rest of her birthday present. In reality, they'd only shared a bed for the night because of nightmares. He much preferred the dream.

"It's morning," Halley whispered. She was leaning over him, her hair falling down the side of her face. "You need to go back to your room."

Gid raised his head and saw the clock that was sitting innocently on the nightstand. It was nearing seven, which meant that his mum would be initiating her new rounds soon. Ever since they'd made it back home, Mum would check in on everyone in the morning as if they were little kids again. In its own way, it was reassuring to know that his mother cared enough to do that.

But now it was very inconvenient.

"Are you okay?" Halley brushed her hair out of her eyes. "You look off." She reached out to touch his forehead.

"I'm fine, Gid muttered. He pushed himself away and focused on something distracting. "Dreams," he said vaguely, feeling his ears turn red. He wanted nothing more than to erase himself from the room, and maybe even drown in his embarrassment. For the love of Merlin—he was dreaming about her in her own bed.

"Ah." Her eyes flickered back to his face before she averted her gaze completely.

_Oh_.

Now that had his attention. Gid studied Halley's face, noticing the flush of colour on her cheeks. A tingling awareness went through his body as the thought raced through his mind of her dreaming abut him the way that he dreamed about her.

Any more thoughts were swiftly interrupted by the sound of Rory rushing past his room to get to hers that was down the hall. Through the opened door, they could see her clad in a dressing gown and later heard her door being slammed shut. Gid had only moments to realize that it was his sister leaving Hector's room that was on the floor above.

He glared at the ceiling.

Halley followed his gaze. "You don't think…"

"I don't want to," he said. "But I wonder how long it'll be for Mum and Dad to find out."

She gave Gid a little push. "And unless you want to be the first, then you should probably go back to your room."

Agreeing to this, he untangled himself from the sheets and stumbled to the door. "Thank you."

"For helping you escape?" asked Halley.

"For letting me stay."


	6. Photographs

**AN: I think I have another prewritten after this, and then there'll be actual waits in between the chapters. **

**Big thanks to everyone that's been reading. **

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Photographs

**Word Count**: 1210

**Summary: **Reboot!The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>Rory helped Halley to the floor of the attic. "If the ghoul comes over here," her friend said, "then I want that dress back."<p>

"It wouldn't fit you." Halley sneezed into the crook of her arm. The amount of dust that surrounded and already covered her clothes would give Aunt Petunia a heart attack.

The slow process of rebuilding had started. Already, those like Rory's older sister Charlotte had moved out to Hogsmeade to help build Hogwarts. Kingsley Shackelbot and selected Order members were overtasking themselves with the reconstruction of the Ministry, yet he still found time to schedule meetings with the other members to update them. Hector was making plans to retrieve his parents from Australia, and that left Halley and Rory with doing miscellaneous jobs around the Burrow and the shop.

Today it was cleaning the attic, bringing down old boxes and bringing new ones up. With most of her children back in their respective homes, it took some pushing to relieve Mr and Mrs Weasley to go have a nice afternoon tea with Andromeda Tonks and other members of the Order. The parents needed to be away from home and near some friends, while Halley, Rory, Hector, and Gid needed something to do.

Rory conjured Halley a handkerchief. "I'm sure with some charms I can get it to fit me." She placed her hands on her hip and looked at the mess that surrounded them.

There were some antique chairs that were crowded near an even older vanity set that glittered with peeling gold leaf. Boxes upon carefully labeled boxes were stacked like miniature towers that threatened to collapse. There were more things that were hopefully expected to be in a wizard's attic: like grumbling mirrors covered in white and the snoring of the ghoul that faded into the background.

"We won't find anything dangerous in here, right?" Halley first watched Rory waving her wand to siphon off the dust in minuscular cyclones

Even being of age and using magic continuously for a year, she still felt awkward with using her wand for domestic reasons. There were sections about this in her textbooks, but they had nowhere the same amount of allure as the defensive magic did. At least Rory grew up watching her parents do things like using a charm to check a temperature, or an incantation that could wipe honey off the curtains. It felt like there was a gap in Halley's education that she could barely do her own laundry with magic.

Rory snorted and directed the dust to go out the opened circular window. It brought in a stiff breeze that did nothing for the humidity and musty smell. "As if," she said. "Unless you want to tackle the broom shed, then be my guest." Halley wondered briefly on what contraptions that Mr Weasley had made in his moments of boredom. "Merlin! I can't believe how many boxes are here." Rory read the label of one of them and hastily kicked the box to the side.

"I thought you said there was nothing dangerous?" Halley said.

"In the wrong hands it can be," said, Rory, paling under her freckles. "Baby pictures."

That caught a fantastic amount of Halley's interest. She smiled. "Really?"

"I'm sure that you were just as adorable back then." Hector's head appeared through the trapdoor. He also sneezed when greeting them. He scrambled up to his feet and reached them, giving Rory a kiss on the cheek first. "Where's your brother?"

"Getting the last of the gnomes, he'll be up here once he's done." Rory shuffled to block their view of the box. "Everything fine with your house?"

"Rather low-level curses, nothing too alarming and the Floo is still having problems." Hector frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "You really don't want me to see them?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I want to see them," Halley said.

She and Hector both moved closer to Rory.

"No way," she said. "I hid these myself before Halley first came here. I wasn't going to let Georgia and Feli-Felicity," she stumbled and started over. "I wasn't going to let them embarrass me."

"Hector, we're not going to tease her about the pictures, right?"

"Of course," he said. "Only after we leave the attic…"

"What's going on?" Gid scrambled up to meet them. There was a shallow mark that looked like an impression of a bite on his forearm and his clothes were streaked with dirt and sweat. He appeared even messier next to Hector who was wearing a clean button down shirt and slacks. Gid cocked his head to the side. "Rory, is that your stuffed animal collection?"

"Pictures," she snapped.

"Pity." He turned to their friends, a coy smile on his face. "She has this pink—"

"Gideon, remember that time when you wanted to play for the Harpies?" Rory cut him over smoothly. "Because those pictures are in there, too."

Whatever the pictures were of, it shut him up.

Now Halley was dreadfully curious. She looked at each sibling. "Come on, what do either of you two have to lose?"

"For one," Gid said, "dignity. I like having that."

"But we're your friends," Hector argued. "Your dearest, closest friends."

"I like my dignity more." He twirled his wand between his fingers. "Now Mum'll be pissed if we burn them, yeah?"

"There can be another incident with the gnomes," Rory said. She shared a knowing smile that reminded Halley of the twins. "Just like what happened with the crystal vase."

"Is this how having a brother or a sister works?" asked Halley. "Blackmail and conspiracy?"

"Yes," they said.

"Goodness," Hector said with a smile. "One would think you're planning on hiding a body than a box full of albums. How many things had 'incidents with gnomes' happened between you two?"

Rory began counting them off with her fingers. "The crystal vase, the dress robes that Aunt Muriel gave me, Great-Aunt Jocelyn's hat, Priscilla's shoes, Georgia's barrette…"

"And now this box filled with embarrassing pictures that can be used for blackmail." Gid picked the box up. "You don't want to know how many mortifying memoires are in here. Very terrifying stuff."

"The more you keep talking about it, the more I want to see them." Halley stepped in front of him. "Please?"

"I'll bring my own embarrassing baby pictures," Hector promised. "I don't have many, but I'll bring them."

"Tell me more." Gid lowered the box back to the ground.

Rory also appeared interested. "If everyone gets embarrassed, then I don't mind you guys seeing them."

"Then I'm in the clear," Halley said absentmindedly. She opened the box with a tap of her wand and began rifling through the albums, unaware of the awkwardness that she created.

"Halley?" Gid knelt down next to her. "As in your aunt and uncle never took embarrassing pictures of you or..?"

"Hm?" Halley smiled inwardly at a picture of Rory as a baby, naked and running in the mud outside her home in a storm. "I guess they never saw much of a reason to take pictures of me." She stared at the moving pictures so that she wouldn't see her friends' faces.

The ghoul in the background moaned in agreement.


	7. Why it Hurts

**AN: Sorry that this wasn't up last night. I got home a lot later than intended. **

**Big, big thanks to everyone reading. It means a lot that people are interested in seeing the reboot. Now that this is the last of the prewritten chapters, you may have to wait a week or so for the next one. It depends on how many Russian quizzes I get. **

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Why it Hurts

**Word Count**: 1121

**Summary: **Reboot!The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>"Halley, there you are," Mrs Weasley said suddenly, looking not entirely surprised to see her up and about near midnight. "Sit."<p>

Halley flushed, feeling as if she had entered a brightly-lit room after being in darkness too long. She also had a feeling that just walked in on a conversation about her. She'd been struck with the sudden urge to eat, a rare occurrence after the war. Her appetite would come and go in waves, and now Halley wasn't entirely sure if she wanted some of the broth that Mrs Weasley was making over the stove.

Mr Weasley patted the back of the chair that was next to him. Like his wife, he had also lost weight and hair had thinned and greyed. His kind eyes still regarded her above his glasses. "Don't worry," he assured. "This will only take a moment, and then you can go back to sleep."

Halley didn't move. "Is…is this about wanting me to leave or…I'm sorry…"

There was the loud clatter of the heavy spoon dropping from Mrs Weasley's hand. "Leave?" she asked. "Why on earth would we want that?"

"But…" Halley let the word dangle in the air, unsure of how to complete the sentence. Because she was keeping people up with her nightmares? Because she couldn't save Felicity? Because she put the children of the two people that she thought of as parents in increasing danger each year? "Did I do something wrong?"

"Do you think you've done something wrong?" Mr Weasley said. He reached for a basket of bread that was on the table, and handed her a piece.

Halley took it and the seat next to him. Memories both sluggish and sharp swirled in her mind, not leaving a moment of peace. They weren't going to be like with Aunt Petunia who would ignore her; they were going to listen no matter how absurd her thoughts were. Halley pressed her thumbs into the fresh crust, needing to find something to occupy her hands. "Because," she muttered. "Because I've been a bother."

"Ridiculous," Mr Weasley scoffed. He spread some butter on his bread. "I cannot recall a single time that you've been a burden to this household. Molly?"

She was adding chopped vegetables to the broth. "You've been nothing but a polite guest in this house," she agreed. "And where would you go if you decided to leave?"

Halley chewed on some crust, the poppy seeds crunched pleasantly in her mouth. "Um, Sirius left me his house?" The words conjured the uneasy image of her godfather lurking the dark hallways, the smell of alcohol lingering in the air.

"Do you honestly want to stay there?" asked Mrs Weasley. "It still hasn't been fully cleaned out yet."

"Book a room at the Leaky?"

"Have fun with the reporters," Mr Weasley said. His mouth tilted in a smile.

Bewildered, Halley stared at the Weasley parents. "Then what about me were you two talking about?"

The parents shared a quick that held more words than those seconds.

"Your well-being," Mr Weasley said. "We know that you've been picking at your food."

"And the nightmares and excessive sleeping is something that anyone can tell," added Mrs Weasley.

"You hardly leave your room."

"Dear, we just get worried about you."

"But I killed Felicity," Halley said.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Arthur, can you…" Mrs Weasley's face was carefully void of any expression. She gestured with her spoon at Halley. Her husband understood and nodded. He stood up and gave his wife a brief kiss on the cheek before leaving. "Now does this taste good to you?" She held the spoon out.

Halley wasn't sure where the rest of the conversation was heading. She tasted the soup, liking how the warm vegetables and liquid rested in her uneasy stomach. "Yeah." Mrs Weasley stopped stirring and brought out a bowl and spoon to ladle the soup in.

"I thought it would be a good idea to get a head start on cooking since you're not the only one having a hard time sleeping. It's for Andromeda. Minestrone is her favorite." She handed Halley the filled bowl. It felt too heavy. "Is there a reason why you're avoiding her, too?"

Halley nodded, no longer trusting herself to speak.

"Now have your soup and bread, and listen to me very carefully, Halley Lily Potter." There was a strange sort of power that came with using someone's full name. Halley discovered that there was an even stranger and more powerful one when being done by a parent. "It was not your fault. Arthur and I do not blame you for the death of our daughter. Andromeda Tonks does not blame you for the death of her family_. No one blames you_. How hard is that to understand?"

"A lot." Halley blinked away the growing amount of tears in her eyes. "I think about it a lot and it hurts."

They moved to the table with the bowls of soup cooling near them.

"Sometimes when I look at you," Mrs Weasley said. "I except to see the knobby-kneed girl with the glasses falling down her nose and wearing oversized jumpers. But you're not her anymore, are you? No, I supposed that it's my own fault for wanting to see you all with the innocence that was ripped away from us older folks."

"Was it difficult?" Halley asked. "Seeing us go though all of that?"

"It broke my heart each time." Mrs Weasley skimmed the surface of the soup with her spoon, lost in thought. "You were all too young to be fighting so many, but don't you understand that each time you've saved people? You've stopped so many of us from dying over the years. We are eternally in your debt, young lady."

Halley thought back to each time: Seeing Gid's body in the cold Chamber, Mr Weasley being attacked by the snake, Rory succumbing to the poison, Voldemort raising his wand at Mrs Weasley… Then to Georgia pale on the couch with a hole in the side of her head, Beatrice with the bloodied scars on her face, the echo of a laugh on Felicity's face…

"It wasn't enough."

"You can't save everyone. Goodness, if only, but the thought of that will only bring you more pain." There was a change in her appearance, Halley noticed. Mrs Weasley's face seemed only older and sadder as the clock chimed midnight. "That is why it hurts. The matter..." her voice croaked and she repeated it again. "The matter of wanting it to hurt more is up to you. I just want you to know that Mr Weasley and I are here for you."

Halley nodded and they enjoyed the silence together.


	8. Sunday Brunch

**AN: Look at me being all updatey and uploady lately. I apologize for how really short this chapter is. Hopefully I will write a companion to it soon.**

**Thanks to everyone that's been reading. It'll be great to see your support through Kudos or reviews, too!**

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Sunday Brunch

**Word Count**: 854

**Summary**: Reboot! The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>Andromeda Tonks was raised in the art of keeping her emotions still. A careful stoic mask must be worn in order to protect themselves from the likes of other Purebloods that would wish harm. All it would take would be a slip at someone's name, and someone like Malfoy would know your weakness.<p>

It was one of the several habits that were hard to break after her falling out with her family. After being raised in such a carefully controlled environment, she would sometimes feel overwhelmed when visiting friends and their more emotive families.

"Hello," Molly Weasley greeted her as she was directing her children to set the table. "Rory, I said to put away the peas, not to eat them. Beatrice, no. Don't _levitate_ the knives like that, goodness we don't need anymore injuries. Halley, would you be a dear and help Andromeda to a seat?"

Her grandson's godmother was visible in the small crowd of red hair and freckled skin. Halley Potter was truly an image of her parents, the same dark hair and skin as her father, but it had to be her mother's eyes and wide mouth. After seeing much of her family in other Purebloods, Andromeda was glad to see someone else's features for a change.

Even if the last time she had seen young Halley was as a sleep-deprived, mumbling witch at the funeral. And before then was when she was angry and healing from the fight. The look of terror and hatred when she saw Bellatrix's resemblance in Andromeda was hard to forget. After all, looks like that she should be accustomed to. It certainly wouldn't be the end of people mistaking her for her dead sister.

"It gets a little mad around here," Halley admitted. "You get used to it."

"I plan to," said Andromeda. She readjusted Teddy's moving weight in her arms. The noises and smells were starting to wake him. With it being so close to the full moon, he was prone to slightest disturbances that ruined his sleep. But it was good being surrounded by a large family. Teddy needed this. She needed this—a distraction from everything else and from the restless dreams of Ted, Bellatrix, and Nymphadora.

"Do you need help with Teddy?" Halley asked.

Andromeda held the squirming baby to his godmother, instructing her on how to hold him. "Support his neck, yes, like that. It's a good thing you are not wearing any dangling earrings, I remember when…" Even when correctly cradling teddy, the look of unease was still on young Halley's face. "You'll be fine," Andromeda told her.

Halley gave a shaky nod.

Andromeda was soon seated and with food placed in front of her. She was now surrounded by a sea of redheads with the occasional head full of fair of dark hair. The eldest daughter, Beatrice Delacour was there with her husband Fabris, they were muttering to themselves as Beatrice laid a hand on her stomach and hadn't touched her meal. The second oldest, Charlotte, was absent—something about giant spiders and a missing baby dragon in the Forbidden Forest. Priscilla and Georgia were the ones that seemed out of place in the loud family to Andromeda. Priscilla was stiff, speaking in short sentences to her parents, not meeting their eyes much. Georgia wasn't talking. She was more moving her food on her plate rather than eating it. Her mother would catch this, and Georgia would then take a small bit out of her jacket potato.

Then there were the younger ones. The four of them were sitting on the far end of the table together with Teddy. Halley was still holding him, smiling as his features rippled and changed.

"He has your hair now, Rory!"

"Look at those green eyes."

"Aw, he's getting freckles."

Andromeda smiled to herself. Teddy was much like Nyphmadora when she was at that age. She would be unconsciously sympathetic to the people surrounding her, and would change her appearance to match whomever's was surrounding her.

"It's good, isn't? That they're smiling?"

Andromeda turned her head to see Molly's tired face. She was watching the children coo over the baby, a misty expression filled her brown eyes.

"It is," she agreed. She speared a sausage with her fork. "I don't want Teddy to live alone."

"You won't either," Molly promised. She inclined her head to Halley who appeared almost serene now. "I think we all need a little of each other."


	9. Choices We've Made

**AN: A revision and then some of an old chapter that I was proud of. In My Veins by Andrew Belle was played on repeat when writing this. I also swear the next chapter is going to be a happier one. I'm thinking either a visit from Kingsley about career options or some fluffy Romione.**

**Major thanks goes to TatterdemalionDandelion for leaving a review!**

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Choices We've Made

**Word Count**: 1566

**Summary**: Reboot! The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>Sunlight rained to the ground on one summer day. It came down like fat, golden raindrops, and it highlighted the bright colors and enhanced the beauty of the Burrow. Clouds lazily moved across the painted blue sky, and small winds rushed through the trees and flowers. Two sturdy trees supported a frayed, white hammock. Long branches and their large leaves hid the sun away in pockets of shadows.<p>

Sometimes Halley would drag herself out of her room at the Burrow and stay outside on sunny days. All she ever did was rest in the hammock and curl up in the afternoon light to sleep under. The sun, she personally felt, had a cathartic effect on her. It was warm and present, keeping the shadowy figures of her nightmares away. The Burrow's grassy backyard was the opposite of the Forbidden Forest or the destroyed grounds of Hogwarts. It wasn't tainted to her.

Hogwarts was tainted, terribly so with the haunted and physical reminders of the Battle. Halley didn't know if she would be able to look at the castle the same way ever again. In fact, she wasn't sure when she would be able to leave the Burrow's property without the overwhelming fear of being attacked or the reporters chasing her. Halley could see glimpses of them on the outskirts of the wards, waiting like vultures preparing to descend on a fresh kill. Everyone at the Burrow was glad that the wards prevented the reporters from seeing or even hearing what went happened on the Weasleys' land. It made them feel safer.

Halley tested her weight on the ropes and knots of the hammock that was resting between the trees. It groaned, but made no sign of snapping. Reassured, she swung the rest of her body on it, and the distribution caused the hammock to rock gently. She tried to let the soothing motions relax her that should make the remains of the nightmares go away. Last night was particularly bad; it left a bitter taste of pennies in her mouth when she remembered waking up screaming.

Even now, Halley could hear the voices of the people she couldn't save, asking why couldn't she stopped their deaths? She couldn't move nor speak. Too many faces she recognized, all coming closer in different stages of decay…

Something touched her shoulder. Halley let out a small yelp and jumped, thinking of vengeful Death Eaters and undead Dark Lords. Quicker than she realized, her wand was out and pointed at someone. Actually, it was pointed at a surprised Gid who held his hands up in a silent sign of peace.

"Halley. Hi." He kept his eyes on the trained wand. "Mind not blowing me to pieces?"

"Right." Halley put her wand down, hands shaking. Her heart was thumping wildly, playing the scene over again in her mind. _I almost cursed him_, she thought. _I almost cursed him and I would never forgive myself._ Her wand felt too heavy in her hand. "I'm sorry."

"I was the one who surprised you," he said, looking apologetic.

"And I almost cursed you to next week." Halley recalled seeing in throughout the battle at Hogwarts. She's seen what he was capable of back then. Did he had his wand with him right now? What if she had cursed him and he reacted. What if? Those two words played her mind too much these days.

There was some seconds of silence. "Was it nightmares again?" Gid asked quietly. "You look exhausted."

Halley sighed and raked a hand through her messy hair. "Last night was…"

"Not your best?" he supplied and then shrugged. Halley appreciated his attempts of making it seemed like it wasn't a big deal. "Silencing Charms were never your forte to begin with." He hesitated before meeting her eyes. "Want to talk about it, Halley?"

She shook. There was no need to inflict her fears on anyone else.

Something flickered in his eyes. "Then budge, you can't have this all for yourself when you brood." His smile wasn't as quick or as easy going as it was a few years ago, but it was there all the same.

Halley complied the request and moved over some inches. Gid said thanks and lay down next to her. He took up more space than what she expected with his lanky and long frame. His feet were dangling over the edge, so he pressed his knees to his chest.

"Really?" she said. "You think all I do is brood?"

"You're a professional at it," Gid said. His tone was light. "I've never met someone that was adamant at saying no to help from the people that care about her. "

"I also sleep out here," said Halley.

"Because of the nightmares?" he guessed. "I get them, you know. You're not the only one who wakes up terrified. There's the Carrows and their detentions, the battle, you…" He looked away. "Just a few nights back, I had that one about the Forbidden Forest again. You didn't wake up."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She had a feeling that her short death had also scarred the rest of her friends. It couldn't have been easy for them to see her dead in Hagrid's arms. A part of her mind strayed too far, and she could almost feel the rough fabric of Hagrid's jacket or his tears falling on her…

Gid was looking at her again. His fear appeared more tired than it did moments ago. She recognized that look too well. "It wasn't your fault that you had to die."

"I had a choice." The words felt like weights, dragging her into a memory that she didn't wanted to go back to. But Gid's words had sparked something inside of her. She could recall her entire time in the Forest, everything was in perfect clarity except for what had happened during her death. Should she tell him everything? Would the knowledge of knowing what had happened there help him with his own nightmares?

"And we all would have been dead if you hadn't. You heard what Tom has said, he wasn't going to let any of us survive if you didn't hand yourself over."

_Choices_, Halley thought as she felt aware of the bruise over her heart, _comes with consequences. _Dumbledore had made a gamble and so did she. She wondered how much of her survival and others were based purely on chance?

"I saw you," said Halley suddenly. Her mind filled with the image of Gid kneeling next to a younger student. She remembered that ache well, the need for someone to notice, to make her change her mind. "You were there with a boy, and I—I wanted you to see me. You were my last thought."

Gid's head snapped up. His brown eyes were very wide.

She continued the babbling stream of words. "I remember being there, and Tom's surprised that I even showed up. I needed to do it, though. I was his last Horcrux, He raised his wand and I thought of you. I wasn't afraid then. I don't remember much of the rest. There was green light and I was _somewhere_. But it's all hazy and I don't know where or what was happening. I remember wanting to come back. I made a choice. I wanted to come back. I—I—" Halley's felt her words breaking and the tears stinging in her eyes. "Bollocks. I'm crying."

She felt Gid put his arms around her and she was crying into his shoulder. "I'm sorry," he was saying. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed."

"But you needed to know, too," she muttered. Halley looked up and saw the tears on his face. She had done the impossible. "I've made you cry," she said, touching his cheek. Her crying had stopped, but he was shuddering. The truth had scared him.

Gid wiped the tears away with his sleeve. "Shit—I knew you were saying something after the battle, I should have listened more—"

"I was exhausted and so were you."

The moments after the battle were a confusing mess of memories. Halley remembered crawling into her bed and seeing Gid there. She remembered bawling her eyes out and telling him as much as she could with the lack of sleep and the injuries that she had. But she supposed that he was still trying to recover from everything as well. They all had different ways of coping, his was making sure that people were all right, and hers was caving to the damn of emotions that were finally unleashed.

"You died," he said. "You were really dead and that scares me."

Halley noticed the tense that he used. How many nightmares did he have of her not waking up? If her death had done this to him, then she couldn't imagine how Rory and Hector were, too. She took his hand and placed it over her heart. "See? I'm not going anywhere."

Gid took some deep breaths and closed his eyes. He pulled her into another hug, this one was deeper and they fell to their sides, making the hammock swing. His face was buried into her hair, and Halley was sure that her glasses were leaving an uncomfortable impression into his shoulder

But neither was willing to let go.

They lay there in the hammock and waited for their waking nightmares to go away under the sunlight.


	10. What If: The Next Step

**AN: For every tenth chapter there will be a different AU set in the post-war environment. I already have the rest planned, so this ought to be fun! Here you have Tonks for being the worst and best adult friend. Putting a note out there for younger readers that this chapter has an adult topic mentioned.**

**Massive amount of thanks to TatterdemalionDandelion, alittlemorecreative, and Legionary Prime for leaving reviews! Thanks also extends to people that are faving, following, and reading this. You guys rock!**

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: What If: The Next Step

**Word Count**: 1680

**Summary**: Reboot! The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>Halley hoped that the conversation would be quick and painless.<p>

The Lupin-Tonks' living room was cluttered with soft baby toys, Remus' paperbacks and Tonks' colorful furniture purchases. Here Halley had many conversations in this room about her future as an Auror, her godson Teddy, and now it looked more like an even more personal matter.

"Aww, Teddy, go give your godmother a big kiss."

The baby gurgled and reached his pudgy arms out, making smacking noises with his mouth.

"I see that you've been training him." Halley gave her godson a kiss on the nose. "Can he do tricks now?" she asked Tonks as his hair became darker and wilder.

"Mostly sympathetic stuff at the moment." Her friend cooed when Teddy's fair skin color started to change to match Halley's. "Very good, Teddy. Soon you'll be able to do more. Like this." Tonks morphed her nose to resemble a toucan's. Teddy laughed loudly. Her face became normal again and she quirked her mouth. "Relax, Halley. Remus is going to be out for a while. He had a rough full moon."

Halley looked up at the ceiling, imagining the horror of her old professor walking down or even listening to their conversation.

"What brings you to my couch? No, it can't be Auror business, and you specifically asked if Remus wasn't here, which means…" Tonks' face split into a wide and Sirius-like grin. "Oooh, it must be boy stuff." She whispered loudly into her son's ear, "See, Teddy? Your godmother trusts me enough to talk about—"

"Tonks!" Halley said. She dropped her head into her hands. "I don't think Teddy should be here for the conversation."

"But don't you want a physical reminder of what happens when—"

"Please, don't."

"—you get a little too passionate near a full moon?"

Halley raised her head. "_Why?" _Aghast, she stared her mentor, not wanting to picture what that witch that was training her to be an Auror and her best Defense professor did alone in their bedroom. "Really, why?"

"I could ask you the same question, kid." Tonks set Teddy down between them. He squirmed and fell backwards on the couch cushion, kicking his little legs up. "Gosh, when did you two get so old on me?"

"I'm not a kid anymore," muttered Halley.

"You're right. You're an adult with a boyfriend that is also of age. A boyfriend that you're getting really comfortable with. You want to know when you're ready?"

Halley tucked her knees under her chin. She tried to steel herself, but the conversation already took several turns, and it felt like her face was about to burst into flames. "Yeah."

"Let's say that you are ready for…Quidditch." The corner of Tonks' mouth twitched. "Do you know how that works?"

Halley massaged the bridge of her nose, muttering to herself before actually speaking. "Bloody hell, I have to catch the snitch or whatever analogy you see fit. Molly gave me that talk years ago."

"Good, but maybe it should be something like scoring a goal or riding a broom," Tonks said. "That shouldn't be the problem with those romance novels that Gid reads. Oh, please," she said at seeing Halley's expression. "Who do you think supplies them?"

"You're a horrible influence on him."

"You'll be thanking me later. Those books can be very educational." Tonks' smile became wicked and she waggled her eyebrows. "And you know how to catch his attention because we had that lovely talk when you were 16."

Halley groaned. The conversation was just as vivid in her mind's eye. It was before Slughorn's Christmas party, and Halley had run into the Auror while she was on break. It didn't take much needling for Tonks to realize who Halley fancied, and had then given her information that was worthy of _Witch Weekly._ Most of the conversation had made Halley stutter and blush as the older witch just laughed.

Some of the well meaning mirth left Tonks' face. "When did you decide that you wanted to play Quidditch?"

Wishing the couch would swallow her whole; Halley made vague waves with her hand. "Thought about it for a while, actually. But it felt too soon back then, and we weren't in any good shape in the summer. We talked and stuff, like, we both want to make a move but I think we're scared out of our wits."

Tonks nodded. "Quidditch can even change a relationship, you know. Like for Charlotte and I way back—"

"Wait. Charlotte Weasley? Gid's sister?"

"Yeah, poor Molly was heartbroken when we split. The point is that Quidditch can change your relationship. I liked playing it, but Charlotte didn't and that caused us to argue. I didn't respect her feelings and it was the final straw for us. Our careers, Quidditch, what we wanted to do together in the future wouldn't work, but we're in better places now." She looked down at her son who was half-asleep, his hair rippled different colors.

Halley nervously twirled a piece of her hair between her fingers. "You were the jerk in the relationship?"

Tonks flushed. "Yeah, I was. I had a lot of growing up to do, but it's good that you two talked about it first and are respecting each other. That's a good sign that you're both ready."

Halley muttered something in agreement. That particular conversation was recent. She was asked to talk to some of the younger students, and after that she had a wonderful time with her boyfriend. One moment lead into a more awkward one, and they had a frank talk about what they wanted physically in their relationship.

It was more than reassuring to hear out loud to hear from Gid that he wanted her. They had both admitted their dreams and feelings, but what was stopping either of them from making that move? They were comfortable with each other physically and emotionally, they had already said their 'I love you's, and Halley was so close yesterday…

"Tell me more." Tonks readjusted Teddy who had gotten very bored with them and fallen asleep, his head was resting at an awkward angle. He cuddled into his mum's side.

"I love him, and he loves me," said Halley, feeling a slight thrill with saying those words. "But the moment we get close to…" She struggled to find the appropriate words that described the rush of frustration and awkwardness that was always created in the privacy of his bed. Clothes would be off, passion would crackle, but once they were near naked would be one of them would balk.

"It's natural to be scared," her friend said.

"But I don't want to be scared," Halley said. She stretched her legs out, her toes touching the edge of the coffee table. "I just want him. I want _us."_

"Well," Tonks said. "What's a big thing that the both of you went through? Something that none of us had?"

It took Halley a moment. "It's not like that!" Her voice sounded loud to her ears. "It is absolutely nothing like possession—"

Tonks raised a calming hand. Her pink hair became darker, more solemn. "You and Gideon were hit very intimately by something twisted and wrong. It shaped the both of you for better or worse, and now here you wanting to become intimate. It's your choice this time and that's what different."

She thought about it. The time she was possessed was quicker than Gid's. Instead of it happening gradually over a year with shared secrets and words, she had been struck with a large amount of his power all almost at once. She had been conscious and aware of Voldemort trying to overshadow and control her. There was also the fact that she had been a Horcrux for most of her life, unaware of the fraught piece of soul that had tied them together. It had taken Halley months to get the feeling that could trust herself again…

Halley wondered how Gid saw it. His trust had been violated on a different level, making him lose control of his own body. How much of that fear was still there? The idea of being betrayed by someone that you shared your deepest secrets with?

"Do you think that's why?" she asked.

Tonks shook her head from side to side. "Mix that with the anxiety of taking that step, well, yeah. Maybe you two should talk about that next?"

Halley leaned back into the couch and sighed. "Even dead that bastard has a way of continuing to mess with my life."

The Auror ruffled Halley's hair. "Don't worry, I'm sure that you two will be able to get through this. You'll know when you're ready and so will he."

"Thanks," Halley said, smiling. "I needed to hear that."

"And, Halley?" The way Tonks said her name made her feel worried. "He's a Weasley. You better get the strongest contraceptive out there." She smiled brilliantly and waved as Halley mumbled something about suddenly having errands before leaving in a hurry.

* * *

><p>"You did good, Tonks." She patted her son's back and waited for him to burp. Halley's quick exit had disturbed her little boy from his nap, and now he was hungry. "Look at you being such a good role model and mentor, your mother would be so proud of you."<p>

Teddy burped loudly in agreement.

"Good boy," said Tonks. She cooed and put his head against her shoulder. "Isn't it good to know that you may get a godsibling to play with in the future? That'll be fun."

She turned around just as the fireplace changed colors and Gid Weasley stumbled into her living room. "Bloody hell," he gasped. "Okay, Aberforth is only giving me an hour until he tells Filch or McGonagall, but I really need your help. You're one of the few people that I know who isn't with a sister or a close friend."

"Is it about Quidditch?" Tonks asked with a perfectly straight face.

"Quidditch? What, no? I need to know how to not muck things up about sex!"


	11. In Distant Places

**AN: How the tables have turned in this shorter chapter (compared to the events in Closet Conference). I hope those that are celebrating are having a happy and safe ****Thanksgiving!**

**Thanks again to TatterdemalionDandelion and to hermionebear.**

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: In Distant Places

**Word Count**: 1211

**Summary**: Reboot! The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>"<em>Ngghhh…"<em> Hector Granger moaned. "Warmth…come back…" With eyes shut, he beckoned Rory to come near him.

"Sorry," she muttered. She looked at the bedside table and saw the time. Wincing at how late—or rather how early—it was, Rory forced herself to leave the bed and her boyfriend. Her mum had regressed into the old habit of checking up on them in the morning as if they were children again. The last thing Rory needed besides the teasing from her sisters (_minus one,_ the thought panged her heart dearly) and brother were her parents finding out what she and Hector were up to at night.

_One day,_ Rory told herself_, I'm not going to have to climb up two flights of stairs to see my boyfriend. And we're going to have privacy. _She twisted her long hair in a tail with an abandoned elastic that was hiding in the sheets along with her robe and socks. She put her clothing on slowly, feeling the body warmth of Hector behind her.

"Must you go?" He raised his head from the pillow. His bushy hair was in an even messier state, and the pillow created lines on his face. "I don't leave for Australia until the afternoon." He played with the ends of her hair and kissed the back of her neck. Rory heard the bed creak as he sat behind her. "Some more time wouldn't hurt…"

Rory slipped her robe off. "If Mum catches us—" She shuddered at the thought. While her parents weren't sticklers for the rules that old Pureblood families followed (the whole arranged marriages thing straight out of school sounded like complete bollocks), playing something that wasn't chess with her boyfriend before marriage could be pushing the envelope—even if Mum, according to the date of Beatrice's birth, had no room to say anything.

"I'll whisk you away with me," Hector joked. He stroked her collarbone and continued leaving small kisses on her neck. "You'll get horribly sunburned and my parents would be delighted to meet you once they get their memories back."

_Nggghh… _Rory half closed her eyes, her mind warring between the need to sleep, the want for her boyfriend that'll be leaving soon, or the overhanging fear of her parents discovering them in their underdressed state. Life wasn't bloody fair. She had to choose one.

She could settle for something like half of one and another, right?

"Are you sure you want to do this on your own?" Rory ran her fingers through his curly hair, causing him to sigh. "Some company wouldn't hurt."

"It feels like I have to." He linked his fingers through hers. "Some soul searching when the world isn't in danger shouldn't hurt."

_But what if you find a witch who's smart enough to understand you? A pretty and successful ministry witch who…_Rory tried to shake herself from those insecurities, but they were crowding her mind often. Hector was going to be gone for a few weeks, finding his family and recovering their memories, and later helping them adjust to being back home. Already his house in Bristol was cleared and was officially safe. The only thing missing in the brownstone was his family. Soon she would also be busy with helping out at the shop, and he would probably be back in school… Who was she kidding? It would be nothing short of the world ending, and he would still be dressed and ready to leave on the platform.

"You'll write to me, yeah?" Rory asked. She settled in Hector's lap, pushing him back down in the bed.

He let out a soft 'omph' but readjusted his limbs around her for a hug. "Every thing I see," he promised. "Every little detail about the shrubbery and the heat and the size of the giant spiders—"

Rory kissed him. "No. Not a single bloody words about the spiders." She silenced his laugh with another kiss.

* * *

><p>Like her mother, Rory also found herself checking up on Halley in the late nights or early mornings. She knew how Halley's nightmares were back at Hogwarts, and she knew how to handle them with a good blast of water, some comforting words, and a good cup of hot chocolate to put the other witch's mind at ease. It simply wasn't fair that after everything, Halley seemed to be suffering the most.<p>

Just a quick peak, and there was Gid—

There was her little brother in (not _under_ the covers, but on top) her best friend's bed. They were cuddling and _clothed_. Thank Merlin for that. Halley was under the covers, but Gid was sleeping next to her, almost cocooned around her.

Rory was almost tempted to leave them there for Mum to find in a few hours.

But…

She tiptoed closer and poked her brother's shoulder. "Oi, you. Wake up," she whispered, not wanting to wake her friend. Halley stirred but made no other sign.

He waved her away. "Yes, Mum." Gid curled himself a little more around Halley who was mumbling something.

Well, so much for that. Rory grabbed Gid's arm and yanked him out of the bed. He soon stumbled to his feet, dazed and sleepy.

"You!" She jabbed her wand in her brother's back. "Say goodnight and start walking."

"Night, Gid," Halley muttered from her spot. She rolled over and took up what was his part of the bed.

Gid sighed and allowed Rory to more or less frog marched him out of the room.

"You can thank me later," she whispered as they were out of earshot. As much as she would enjoy watching him squirm under his mother's glare, even she had a conscious regarding her siblings.

"We were talking. I had another nightmare and we talked," he insisted. "Bloody hell, Rory, not everyone in this house is at it like you and Hector are."

She felt her face turn bright red in the darkened hallway. Dammit. He knew, and since he knew, it was very much likely the same for everyone else. Secrets were a lost cause in the Burrow. "Shut it!"

"Well, it's not a lie." Gid turned his back on her and started walking to his room. "And just for the record, Halley and I haven't _done_ anything."

"You…haven't?" Rory blinked several times. She only assumed that since the war was over that two would be making up for their lost time together. They acted like they were a couple again. Why not, right? The war was finally done and most of the danger was put away. Many couples were being formed, even some rumors of impending marriages. "You two aren't together?"

Gid sagged his shoulders and appeared smaller. "Does Halley look like she's ready to get back in a relationship? We're not you and Hector. I hadn't seen her in almost a year and the first time I saw her after the wedding she was fighting, and then she was dead…"

"Yeah, I get it," Rory croaked. Her stomach felt sick at remembering the sight of her best friend dead. The nightmare was right up there with Felicity being actually dead and hearing Hector's screams at Malfoy Manor. Those were the moments that were never going to leave her. "It's been one hell of a year."


	12. Two Steps Forward

**AN: I've been blowing off writing in favor of sleeping and reading. Sorry for the delay. There were finals, the Legend of Korra finale, Hannukah that came with really good books, and another medical accident in my family.**

**Now that I'm on break, I'm starting yet another fic, and I have a poll up to hopefully keep me busy.**

**Happy belated holidays!**

**Disclaimer**: I sound too Yankee-Doodle-Dandy to be JK Rowling.

**Title**: Two Steps Forward

**Word Count**: 1576

**Summary**: Reboot! The hardest thing to do after a war is to wake up. 101 one-shots in a gender-bended universe of people getting better.

* * *

><p>Kingsley set the tea kettle down and steepled his fingers under his chin. He looked very different than the wizard that Halley had met more than two years ago. His trademark gold earring was gone, new lines were creased into his face, and his skin was sallow, as if he was recovering from a long bout of illness. She supposed that being the Minister of Magic at this time was immensely stressful when catching Death Eaters and trying to rebuild the Ministry.<p>

"Is it a permanent thing?" Rory asked. She stirred her spoon in her tea, uncharacteristically uninterested in drinking it. "I don't fancy running after these bastards for the rest of my life, yeah?"

"How long do you think will be enough for you, Miss Weasley?" he asked.

Her friend shrugged. "I don't know? I just want them away, away from people so that they can't hurt them."

Kinglsey nodded. "And you?" he asked Halley. "Do you still have an interest of joining the Aurors?"

Halley's mind flashed back to her Fifth Year and having that career talk with McGonnagall and Umbridge, and then of her glimpses of the Auror Office and what Aurors she had seen. It would be four years of intense training and more to get to the likes of Kingsley, Tonks, and Mad-Eye Moody. But she, Rory, and the rest of the team that Kingsley wanted to collect didn't had the time for training, the Death Eaters needed to be caught _now. _

Halley raised the rim of her cup to her lips but didn't take a sip. "How's training going to work?"

That made the Minister smile. "You and the others will be put in an accelerated program once September starts. From there, expect long days and you'll need to be picking up the pace. You already have the experience, and you know what these wizards are capable of, but I think the training will be an added use. " He paused. "I take it that the both of you will be joining?"

Rory and Halley shared a quick look. It seemed strange that it felt like yesterday they were smaller and agreeing that they would join the Auror Program together, now that moment felt very different than what they'd intended. Personally, Halley felt surprised that she still wanted to join after everything. Rory's earlier words had struck a cord. The likes of Macnair and other dangerous types were still out there. The idea of that reminded Halley that even though Voldemort was truly gone, they still weren't safe.

"If she goes, I go," Rory said.

"Really?" said Halley.

"If you think I'm going to let you chase down Death Eaters without me, then you're mistaken." Rory crossed her arms in front of her chest. "We're in this together, mate."

"And what do you say, Halley Potter?" Kingsley said to her.

"To be honest," she said. 'I thought you were here to talk about court hearings and not job opportunities."

Kingsley closed his eyes and sighed. "It's going to takes us years for the trials to end…"

"Yeah, I'll join." Halley sipped at her cold tea. "Where do we sign?"

"Would Hector like to join, too? Kingsley asked. "A sharp mind like his would be useful to have around."

Rory's expression became more neutral. "He's in Australia with his parents. You missed him by a day. Besides, he wants to be more into magical law."

"And your brother?"

Halley's head shot up and Rory actually dropped her cup. _"What?"_

"I've read the reports, and I must say that I'm impressed with the initiative that you all took." He looked at Halley. "Your study group has grown into a breeding ground of the people that will change things here. They are the future that we need, and they will lead it.

"I'm not under any delusions," he said. "This war has brought to light how corrupted the Ministry is. In order for us to have a future, there must be change and it needs to come from within."

"You plan on staying Minister for long?" asked Rory in an almost dry manner. Halley had to agree; Kingsley's words were inspiring.

And he was right.

The Ministry was corrupt. She'd seen Lucius Malfoy pocket gold for Fudge, the tyranny of Umbridge, and her own trial. There were countless examples that she'd been witness to that proved that the old Ministry needed to go through some sort of metamorphosis. Halley was sure that if Hector was here, then he would have already started a rant on he should change things. Knowing him, it would start with the mistreatment of House-Elves and werewolves.

So how would she change things as an Auror?

"How do you propose we start?" Halley refilled her cup of tea, her hands shaking. The images of Sirius bound in chains and seeing Death Eaters hiding in the shadows of the graveyard swirled in her conscious.

"Is that a no about Gideon and Hector?" Kingsley said.

Rory sighed and curled some of her hair around her finger. "You can ask Hector when he gets back, but he has his heart set on going back to Hogwarts and doing magical law. As for my brother…" Her expression changed for a moment. "He's upstairs. I dunno about him."

Halley tried to imagine Gid in the maroon robes, but the image wouldn't form. Something about him being an Auror seemed too conforming for someone like him. She knew since Sixth Year on how he dreamt about playing professional Quidditch or even designing brooms. And for Hector, Halley could only see him happily drafting legislations for House-Elf rights.

"Then we'll focus on you two for now." Kingsley held his cup in one hand and pulled a piece of parchment from the inside of his robe. "Second week of August, I want the both of you there and ready to sign many forms. It'll be your insurance, your contracts, your finances…" His mouth twisted in a bemused grin. "Medical records and history."

Halley gave a small smile. Rory chortled and nudged her shoulder. "You'll be writing that for ages," she said in a stage whisper. Halley rolled her eyes and tried not to dwell at how long it could take her to finish that. _Yes_, she thought. _Make that my right arm loosing every bone, falling from a great height on a broom, once possessed, intense exhaustion and malnutrition, multiple burns…. _Now actually forming a list, Halley was surprised that she even had all her limbs and finger. _Maybe I was dropped in a cauldron of Felix Felicis as a baby? _

They stayed and talked some more about their futures. Kingsley was adamant that the trials regarding certain Death Eaters, like the Malfoys or even those that never took the mark, like Greyback, were of higher priority. Halley was certain that she was going to be needed at the Malfoys' trials.

"When do you see that happening?" she said.

"Maybe October, I hope for late September," Kingsley said. His frown became something more sardonic. "The public, as you can imagine, demands something. With their activities now brought to life, at least their reputation is damaged."

Rory snorted. "All the gold in Gringotts can't fix that now."

"Speaking of Gringotts," the Minister said, "I believe the goblins are waiting for someone to say something about the three of you—"

Halley and Rory shared an exasperated look. Before he had left, Hector was looking for loopholes to justify their infamous robbery. He had some leads at the moment, but he wanted something more concrete than 'According to this passage from Godric Gryffindor's diary' or "This text from 1312 stated an agreement between a coven in Bristol and the goblins at…'.

"Can't the ends justify the means for this one?" Rory sighed.

"You try being the one to tell them that."

"Is there a card for this?" Halley asked out loud. "Yes, we're sorry for breaking into your impenetrable bank. I'm sure that we can retrieve your dragon at some point."

Kingsley covered his face with his hands. "Tell me that you three didn't…"

"I think Charlotte's called dibbs on nursing the poor thing back to health." Rory shook her head. "I can't believe that thing ended up in Cardiff of all places. She's ready to drop the construction of Hogwarts to bring it to the reserve in Romania."

"Norberta will now have a playmate," Halley smiled.

Eventually, their conversations came to an end. Kingsley had meetings to attend, and life had to continue on.

Rory was putting the tea set away when the Minister cornered Halley.

"Minerva still speaks highly of you joining," he said with a soft smile. He leaned back in one of Mrs Weasley's kitchen chairs. "I remember Tonks mentioning that she wanted to be your mentor when the time came.

Halley blinked once. Twice. "That…that would have been nice."

"And how are you?" he asked. "Arthur has been keeping me posted about your well being."

"Why, Minister," Halley drawled. "I haven't officially signed anything and you're questioning my ability."

Kingsley fixed her with a pointed look. "Being an Auror is stressful and dangerous."

"I know."

"And with your history I'm amazed that you're considering."

Halley closed her eyes and saw the Forbidden Forest behind her eyelids. She saw the Death Eaters that were still standing with malice marking their hungry faces. "I'm considering because I have to," she said. "There's work that needs to be done."


End file.
